This October we have asked our NSA Next Generation Ambassadors.....

Who is your farming hero?

Sion Morgan

My farming hero would have to be my grandfather because of all the hard work he has done and still doing.

Sion Morgan
Scottish Borders

Zoey Symington

My farming hero would have to be my boss David Leslie, he has taught me all I know about farming over the years and I am forever grateful!

Zoey Symington
Shetland

Joe Emmett

No one in particular, but the people I've worked for have inspired me to do what I'm doing now.

Joe Emmett
Norfolk

Richard Rossiter

My dad because of the business he has built up. He is always positive even when times are hard and respects and let me makes decisions within the business.

Richard Rossiter
Devon

Kirree Kermode

I don’t have a single farming hero I believe every farmer enduring some of mother nature’s finest weather to produce food for our nation is not just a hero but a super hero!

Kirree Kermode
Isle of Man

Oliver Brayne

My farming hero has to be my oldest brother James Chapman as he had a life changing accident, which he didnt let beat him and has found ways to overcome the mental and physical challenges he has faced to persue his passions in life and helping to change the farming safety stigma we seem to have in this country.

Oliver Brayne
Derbyshire

Lauren Bird

My old and very first boss James Fuggle (Wadhurst, Kent)  who gave me a lot of time and support over the years. He’s an extremely good business man, who’s diversified in a lot of different ways and is prepared to try something a little different to market his product. 

Lauren Bird
Oxfordshire

Catherine Sanderson

Robert Bakewell- the breeder of the Dishley Leicester, the first sheep breed to have a bigger bum than shoulders. Without his pioneering breeding techniques a lot of the breeds we have today would look very different.

Catherine Sanderson
North Yorkshire

What would be your one, best piece of advice for someone looking to enter the world of sheep farming?

Catherine Sanderson

No farmer is perfect and even the best farmers have problems! When things go wrong you're not the only one!

Catherine Sanderson
North Yorkshire

Thomas Chapman

If I could give a bit of advice to someone looking to start out in farming I would say, you will definitely have very difficult times when everything seems to be going wrong but you cant let it beat you just keep your head up and looking forward, also don't be afraid to talk about your problems it doesn't matter who it is. It's just important to share your problems, even if its just too your dog.

Thomas Chapman
Staffordshire

Kirree Kermode

Quality rather than quantity on purchasing stock, Attention to detail , and as the old saying goes “don’t put it off until tomorrow if you can do it today” your hard work will pay off, there will be many hurdles but don’t give up!

Kirree Kermode
Isle of Man

Richard Rossiter

The public good we do is producing a quality nutritious food with all the good vitamins minerals and great source of protein that are required to have a good stable diet. Also by contributing to public health and well being through country side access and enjoyment. This is important to tax payers because if it wasn’t for the farmers in this country it would not look the way it does and if it wasn’t cared and managed correctly it would be overgrown and mess which wouldn’t be able to be accessed for everyone to enjoy.

Richard Rossiter
Devon

Joe Emmett

Try and keep and open mind as best you can to the different systems within the industry, and work hard because people will recognise it. 

Joe Emmett
Norfolk

Zoey Symington

My best piece of advice to someone who is looking to enter a farming career is to go work for a farmer for a year or so to give it a try and see if its for you , its a tougher life but very rewarding!

Zoey Symington
Shetland

Sion Morgan

My best advice would be to try and work for someone that is heading in the direction you’d like to go or has a similar goal to yourself. 

Sion Morgan
Scottish Borders

The Government is looking to replace areas based farm support payments with payments for ‘public goods’. As a sheep farmer, which public good to you think you deliver the most on, how and why? And why is this important to the tax payer?

Sion Morgan

My best advice would be to try and work for someone that is heading in the direction you’d like to go or has a similar goal to yourself. 

Sion Morgan
Scottish Borders

Zoey Symington

We as farmers provide a variety of public goods, nearer most of public goods to the population and I don't agree on the new idea of changing the payments!

Zoey Symington
Shetland

Richard Rossiter

The public good we do is producing a quality nutritious food with all the good vitamins minerals and great source of protein that are required to have a good stable diet. Also by contributing to public health and well being through country side access and enjoyment. This is important to tax payers because if it wasn’t for the farmers in this country it would not look the way it does and if it wasn’t cared and managed correctly it would be overgrown and mess which wouldn’t be able to be accessed for everyone to enjoy.

 

Richard Rossiter
Devon

Thomas Chapman

In regards to the govements new payments scheme for “public goods”. I think as a sheep farmer I contribute most to the protection of natural capital. This is mainly as all water courses are well fenced off, also not grazing too hard and overstocking avoids land poaching. I also feel that sticking to traditional farming methods ie (dog and stick farming) I feel the carbon footprint in sheep farming must be fairly low. This is important to the tax payer as we all share the atmosphere and water supplys so looking after these environmental atributes we will provide everyone with the chance of better life quality.

Thomas Chapman
Staffordshire

Lauren Bird

I don’t see how you can select just 1 public good because we deliver on so many. The clear choice is producing nutritious food, but inadvertadly many of us are also delivering on grazing for biodiversity, food security etc. 

Lauren Bird
Oxfordshire

Catherine Sanderson

Our whole farm is managed as permanent pasture which acts as a fantastic carbon sink by trapping carbon in the form of organic matter.  The organic matter also improves soil structure and can lead to less losses of nutrients by leaching and increased water retention of the soil. This can benefit water quality and help reduce flood risk.

Catherine Sanderson
North Yorkshire

The previous NSA Ambassador session visited British Wool, a timely visit as ‘Wool Week’ falls in October. What surprised or encouraged you about this visit?

Sion Morgan

Visiting the wool board was an very exciting visit. I really liked the new entrant scheme they have. I think it’s a big help for new entrants and quite encouraging 

Sion Morgan
Scottish Borders

Zoey Symington

I was surprised that British Wool didn't have Shetland on the UK map! I was encouraged with all the hard work they are doing to produce a valued wool product that they are selling all over the world. There set up was remarkable to grade the wool!

Zoey Symington
Shetland

Joe Emmett

It was encouraging to see British Wool are pursuing new market places. 

Joe Emmett
Norfolk

Richard Rossiter

Going to the wool board it was interesting seeing how it was sold in the auction. Also going to the scouring plant and seeing how it is processed ready to make products. 

Richard Rossiter
Devon

Kirree Kermode

I was blown away at our visit to the British wool board & howarth scouring plant ,the sheer scale of the both operations and how well organised and ran they were. Attention to environmental precautions were paramount throughout the whole process especially at the Howarth factory with the cleaning, combing and discarding of waste water/sludge. They had huge investment in laboratory apparatus to monitor the chemicals found within the fleeces it was absolutely fastening and certainly made us a lot more aware of the products we use on our sheep.

Kirree Kermode
Isle of Man

Thomas Chapman

Upon visiting the wool board in october i came away feeling very excited for the future of british wool. I felt especially encouraged about their work on a marketing campaign with the gold and platinum british wool products, especially in the carpet industry i think this kind of branding is just the start and the way forward.

Thomas Chapman
Staffordshire

Lauren Bird

I’m a big Wool Fan, I wear wool a lot and buy wool products where I can because I think it’s a brilliant fibre. So I absolutly loved going to the wool mill and watching the process from start to finish where they produce the Yarn. I was amazed at how much blending goes on and the quality (or lack of quality) that sometimes blends into the carpet wools for instance. 

Lauren Bird
Oxfordshire

Catherine Sanderson

I was surprised at how hard everyone works to get our raw wool graded, cleaned and combed so it can be used. Seeing them really justified in my mind the vast difference in price between what we get paid and what you have to pay in shops for wool.

Catherine Sanderson
North Yorkshire

If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most

Catherine Sanderson

Probably dairy since I milk other people's cows!

Catherine Sanderson
North Yorkshire

Lauren Bird

I enjoy working with cattle so I’d probably head down that route, most likely beef, would also consider chickens.

Lauren Bird
Oxfordshire

Thomas Chapman

If I didnt love sheep as much as I do I think I would of been intrested in being a poultry farmer. Inparticular focusing on quail eggs. I used to have a few quail as kid and thought they were brilliant little birds.

Thomas Chapman
Staffordshire

Kirree Kermode

If I didn’t keep sheep I think I’d really enjoy growing fruit trees or flowers .I love colour in the countryside & there’s nothing more satisfying than eating your own produce or drinking it for that matter (wine).

Kirree Kermode
Isle of Man

Richard Rossiter

Either would have a dairy enterprise as used to have one in the past or would be an arable enterprise as enjoy doing that alongside the sheep at the moment.

Richard Rossiter
Devon

Joe Emmett

I would be a contract fencer and forester. 

Joe Emmett
Norfolk

Zoey Symington

If sheep wasn't my passion, I would try farming beef cattle or dairy cattle as I have enjoyed working with both in previous years. I don't think I would go into chicken or pig farming as its not in my interests.

Zoey Symington
Shetland

Sion Morgan

I often think If I wasn’t farming sheep what would I like to farm. I’m really enjoying working with the deer here at Pirntaton so that is something I would definitely consider. 

Sion Morgan
Scottish Borders